September 5 2025 - St. Teresa of Calcutta - Transformed through prayer and charity

 

While a college seminarian, I spent a semester studying in Rome. Once a week, a few other students and I would walk down past the Coliseum. And right next to the Church of St. Gregory, the same patron saint as this church, there was and still is today a home for destitute and homeless men run by the Missionary Sisters of Charity the Religious Order founded by St. Mother Teresa

And at this house for the destitute, men would come off the streets, and the dear sisters would feed them, and offer them a bed for the night, a shower, medical care if need be.  

The sisters were breathtakingly patient, gentle, and kind as they treated these men as they would treat Jesus himself.  Mother Teresa took the words of today’s Gospel very seriously. “That which you did for the least, you did for me”.

I never met Mother Teresa , she died when I was still in high school, but I’ve met a number of her sisters, who had met her, who were inspired by her to give up their lives in service. And so many of those sisters possessed this charism of charity—that is certainly Mother’s lasting legacy to the Church.

It’s said that when anyone met Mother Teresa, they were often shocked at the fact that no matter how busy she was and no matter how many other people were around, when she talked to you, you felt like you were the only person in the world. She gave you her total attention, her total love, her total self every moment. She wasn’t looking past you to see if there was someone more important in the room. She wasn’t checking her social media.  She didn’t appear to be worrying about the other duties she had to attend to. She wasn’t trying to get back home so she could sit on her couch to veg-out or binge her favorite television show or get home to get dinner going. In her presence you experienced love.

One reason she was able to do this was because she gave Jesus her full-loving attention in her daily prayer. She would make holy hours of Eucharistic adoration daily. And because she gave Jesus her full, loving, attention in prayer, she was able to give you her full attention. And she didn’t just give Jesus her prayer, she gave him her service in everyone she met.

“That which you did for the least of my brethren, you did for me”. And you’d think that after day after day, week after week, year after year Mother and her sisters would be tired of helping people. But no. They are among the most fulfilled joyful people I have ever met. True joy. Not just bubbly, not just artificially cheerful, not putting on an act. When you allow love, charity to transform you, you receive the gift of joy.

May St. Teresa's holy example of loving service, charity for the poorest of the poor, care for the least, help us, inspire us, teach us, and challenge us, that, like her, we may be transformed through prayer and works of charity for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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Let us bring our prayers to the Lord with humility and trust.

For the Church throughout the world, that she may be a clear sign of God’s love for the poor and forgotten, and that her members may serve others with the selfless charity.

For all religious sisters, especially the Missionaries of Charity, that their lives of prayer, simplicity, and loving service may be strengthened and bear much fruit for the Kingdom of God. And for an increase in vocations to the consecrated religious life.

For the poor, the homeless, the sick, and the dying, those who feel unloved, forgotten, or abandoned, that through the care of Christian hearts and hands, they may know their dignity and the love of Christ.

For those who have died, the deceased members of our families, friends and parish, and for the forgotten and the poor who died alone, and for all the souls in purgatory, that they may come to see God face to face

God of love and mercy, You inspired St. Teresa of Calcutta to be a light to the world through humble service. Hear our prayers and grant that, following her example, we may love You with undivided hearts and serve You in our neighbor.

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2022 - Embracing the Lost

 This last Monday, aside from being our national celebration of Labor Day, was the feast of St. Theresa of Calcutta, known throughout the last decades of her life as Mother Theresa. 

During my semester in Rome during college seminary, I had the honor of working alongside the Missionary Sisters of Charity—the Religious Order founded by St. Mother Teresa, at a house for destitute men near the Coliseum there in Rome. Many of those sisters had been with Mother from the beginning of the order and certainly embodied her spirit—patience and love for the poor. And at this house for the destitute, men—mostly homeless men—would come off the streets and would be fed and bathed and treated with dignity and respect.  The sisters were breathtakingly patient and gentle as they treated these men as they would treat Jesus himself.  And they did so because that was Mother Theresa’s gift to them. She modeled for them, and for us, how to love Jesus in the poorest of the poor.

When anyone met Mother Teresa, they were often shocked at the fact that no matter how busy she was and no matter how many other people were around, when she talked to you, you felt like you were the only person in the world. She gave you her total attention, her total love, her total self every moment. It was as if the whole rest of the world dropped away and ceased to exist while she was talking to you. She wasn’t looking past you to see if there was someone more important in the room. She wasn’t bothered because of the other duties she had to attend to. She wasn’t trying to get back home so she could sit on her couch to veg-out or binge her favorite television show or get home to get dinner going. She certainly was not concerned what other people would thing about her by talking to you.

Why did she do that that? How did she do that? For one, it’s because of her prayer life. She made a daily Eucharistic holy hour, and mandated her sisters do the same, no matter what. She gave Jesus her full loving attention in prayer, and was thereby able to give you her full loving attention. 

Secondly it’s because she had come to know Jesus’ love for her. She knew that Jesus died for her—not just for general, collective “humanity”; she knew that if she had been the only sinner in the world, Jesus would have done no less for her than he did for all of us. 

God loves you, each of you, every ounce of you—warts and all. And his love for you is perfect. God’s love is not divided, as if each of us only receive one 6 billionth of his love and attention. God loves each individual with the entirety of his love. 

And that’s important to keep in mind as we consider our scripture readings this weekend. In the parables of the finding of the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son in the Gospel today, we are to come to recognize that we cannot be lost to God’s attention or to God’s love. Even when we turn our backs on God, God is search for us. We cannot become lost amidst the nameless, faceless masses. None of us are nameless or faceless to God. 

It is possible to turn our backs on God—to try to hide from God, like Adam and Eve in the garden hiding from God out of shame for their sin. We can separate ourselves from the life of the flock—from the family of God, the Church. We can engage in a life of dissipation outside of the Father’s house in sin.

Like the first son in the Gospel parable—we can act on the dumb idea that we’ll be happier if we just make our own way—if we claim our independence from the Father. But, that’s what sin is, isn’t it? Claiming independence from God and his ways? I’ll do it my way, thank you very much.

But like the prodigal son, that ends in disaster—unhappiness, unfullfilment, misery. If we just trusted God—and stopped playing games with God—and his simple call to holiness—we would be so less depressed.

The real turn in the parable is when the son feels something knocking on his heart. He recognizes everything he has lost because of his choices, and decides to return to the house of his Father.

“And while he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him,” the father had never stopped looking for his son, “and was filled with compassion. The Father runs toward the son to embrace him. Similarly, God, is always knocking on the heart of the sinner, and filled with compassion, is always ready to embrace us in mercy. 

But then, in the Gospel parable, there was another son, and this second son had remained in the Father’s house. But,  there was something lost about him as well—an emptiness. He was lost because he did not share his father’s joy at his brother’s homecoming. Love for his brother had at some point died in his heart. And without love, there can be no joy.

The two sons are two different dangers for Christians. The first danger is that we justify wandering from the Church—embarking on a lifestyle of sin—that brings its own joylessness and emptiness. The second danger, is that those who remain must never lose our love for our brothers and sisters who wander. If we do, it can result in joylessness, bitterness. Those of us who lose love for the sinner, will not know the joy of the Church’s mission to reconcile sinners to God. God forbid we become like that second brother. 

To borrow an idea from Pope Francis…why would anyone become Catholic if all they encounter are scowling, bitter, joyless, complaining sour-pusses. Or the cold, silent treatment. A life-long Catholic annoyed at a stranger sitting in their seat. Someone parked in my spot. Someone is encroaching on my territory. Someone who doesn’t know the right time to sit, stand, kneel. What are they doing here? I never left. We must never harden our hearts against embracing the lost--and those trying to find their way home.

How can we assure that doesn’t happen. Again, like Mother Theresa, prayer enlivens the heart. We need to lovingly gaze upon the face of Jesus in prayer, especially in the Eucharist, so that we can attend to Him in other people. That which you did for the least of my brethren you did for me.

There was a sister who complained to Mother Theresa. Mother, why do we have to waste our time with the daily holy hour. There are children dying in the streets of starvation and disease. The holy hour takes us away from the real work. To which mother replied, sister, because you believe this, you need two hours every day. She wasn’t kidding. 

May our parish always be a place where the lost are embraced and God’s love is joyfully celebrated and shared, where loving attention is given, where God’s children are serious about the sort of prayer that enlivens and emboldens charity, and where the Gospel is learned, cherished and lived out, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

1st Week of Lent 2020 - Monday - "You did it for me"

On Ash Wednesday, our Gospel reading from the Sermon on the Mount every year, calls us to the Lenten Observances of Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. Our Gospel today, certainly touches upon the third of the Lenten practices—Almsgiving—and emphasizes not only are we to give to the poor, but we are to recognize something about the poor. In some mysterious way, when we give to the poor—the hungry, naked, thirsty, and alienated, we give to Jesus Himself: “That which you did for the least of my brethren, you did for me.”

The Lord identifies with every human person who suffers and is in need of compassion—regardless of age, sex, nationality, or creed. Being their creator, his image is pressed upon every living person. Our love for God and love for neighbor are intrinsically bound. Our love for God impels us to care for those created in his image.

It is not easy to see Jesus in the unwashed, addicted, homeless. It is not easy to see Him in the lonely, hardened, bitter widower or widow. But our Lenten practices help us to see Jesus in all. Our Lenten prayer, if it is genuine, opens the eyes of our hearts not just to God, but to the needs of those created in his image. Our Lenten fasting, frees us from our attachments to food and other created things, that we might more freely give of ourselves in service to the Gospel and to the poor.

For those who have difficulty finding God in prayer, yes they should persevere in prayer, but they should also seek the Lord in service.

Mother Teresa often called the poor “Jesus in disguise.” Consider her powerful words references our Gospel passage today: “In order to help us deserve heaven, Christ set a condition: that at the moment of our death you and I, whoever we might have been and wherever we have lived, Christians and non-Christians alike, every human being was has been created by the loving hand of God in his own image shall stand in his presence and be judged according to what we have been for the poor, what we have done for them…”
 
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For the needs of the poor, the hungry, the homeless, those who are sick, unemployed, or suffering from addiction, mental, or physical illness, imprisoned, and those most in need: that the Lord in his goodness will be close to them in their trials.  We pray to the Lord.
For mercy for the most vulnerable of our human family, the unborn; that their mothers may choose life and be supported by a culture of life.
For the young people of our Church. May they be strengthened to be witnesses to the Gospel of mercy and work for a future that embodies a genuine culture of mercy.
For those preparing to enter the Church at Easter: that they will be profoundly blessed in their preparation for full initiation into the Body of Christ.  We pray to the Lord.
For the Holy Spirit’s guidance in the selection of Cleveland’s next bishop, and that our next Bishop may be a man of true faith and conviction for the Gospel.
For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all the poor souls in purgatory, and N. for whom this Mass is offered.
Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy. Through Christ Our Lord.

30th Week in OT 2019 - Tuesday - Suffering and the Hope of Glory

In the course of her decades of self-sacrificial service, Mother Theresa, St. Theresa of Calcutta, witnessed tremendous suffering. She encountered the abjectly impoverished, the abandoned and forgotten. She saw the agonies of Jesus in the orphans and homeless and victims of war discarded by society. She was keenly aware of the suffering caused by disease and violence and the suffering we cause to each other through neglect and greed. And yet, this woman, this saint, was not discouraged, nor did she lose faith in a good and loving God. She kept her gaze fixed firmly on heaven, and so allowed heaven to permeate her life.

She knew that in light of heaven, suffering was temporary, and helped the suffering to have hope. She said, “In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth, a life full of the most atrocious tortures on earth, will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.”

Mother Theresa echoes the sentiment of Saint Paul in the passage from Romans 8 today, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.” Paul, too, knew what it meant to suffer. He suffered greatly for the Gospel. And he knew his audience knew what it meant to suffer. They suffered persecution for the Gospel as well, not to mention the ordinary sufferings of life.

But Paul dares to speak of our terrible earthly sufferings as “nothing” because his Christian hope was supreme. He says something similar to the Corinthians: “this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure.”

Suffering when faced with Christian faith and hope, transforms into the blossoming of the Kingdom of God—like the blooming of a mustard seed into the largest of trees.

Benedict XVI wrote in his second encyclical on hope:  ”We can try to limit suffering, to fight against it, but we cannot eliminate it. It is when we attempt to avoid suffering by withdrawing from anything that might involve hurt, when we try to spare ourselves the effort and pain of pursuing truth, love, and goodness, that we drift into a life of emptiness, in which there may be almost no pain, but the dark sensation of meaninglessness and abandonment is all the greater. It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it and finding meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love.”

May we see our crosses today in light of eternity, and not flee from those opportunities to grow in truth, love, and goodness, despite the suffering that growth entails, and thereby witness to the power of the Christian faith for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For perseverance in holiness, especially for our Pope, Bishops, and Priests, and that the faith of Christians may lead unbelievers to Christ.

For Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of October, “that the breath of the Holy Spirit may engender a new missionary ‘spring’ in the Church

That young people be inspired to respond generously to God’s call to sanctity, and for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

For all the sick and suffering, and for all those in hospitals, nursing homes, and hospice care, for all those who will die today, for their consolation and that of their families.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for the deceased clergy and religious of our diocese, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

September 9 2019 - St. Peter Claver - A slave of slaves

In the age of the explorers and conquistadors, many young men were leaving Europe for the Americas in order to seek out a fortune. Peter Claver, a young Jesuit priest, rather, left his native Spain, to build up treasure in heaven, in Cartegena, a port city in modern day Columbia. The Collect prayer refers to Peter Claver as “a slave of slaves” for he ministered to the African slaves who were brought there to work in the fields and the mines.

When the slave ships entered the port, Peter Claver would board the ships to care for the sick and malnourished. And when the slaves were herded to the slave-market, Peter, would bring them medicine, food, bread, and other items that would help them survive in this new land.

With the help of interpreters, he gave the slaves basic instructions in the faith; he assured them of their human dignity and the salvation that awaited them in God's kingdom.  During the 40 years of his ministry in Columbia, it is estimated that Claver baptized more 300,000 slaves.

Additionally, Peter Claver preached Christ’s Gospel message to the sailors, and tradesman, the imprisoned, and those condemned to death, and to the rich. On many occasions, he was ill-received by the plantation owners and their wives, who looked upon his ministry among their slaves as a waste of their time.

On this Memorial we hear from Matthew 25, the Lord’s teaching on the final judgment, a reminder that service of those in need is never a waste of time. In each slave, to whom he ministered, Peter Claver ministered to Christ himself. And for this, he is counted among the blessed. In the words of Mother Theresa: "At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me.

We might not be called to baptized 300,000 slaves. But we are certainly called to help someone other than ourselves today. Again, in the words of Mother Theresa, “If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."

May we use the time we have been given today, to serve Christ in the poor, in the midst of their daily suffering, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all Christians may be diligent in the works of charity, and generous with our time, talent, and treasure in serving those in need.
For an end to slavery, human trafficking, and all forms of inhumane oppression, for the protection and respect of human life.
For those whose lives are marked by suffering, that they may find hope in the promises of Christ.
For the repose of the souls of the dead, and for N. for whom this mass is offered.
Heavenly Father, hear the prayers of your pilgrimage Church, grant us what we truly need to remain faithful to your Son in all things. Through Christ Our Lord.

16th Sunday in OT 2019 - Prayerful Service or Godless Activism

Last week, from Luke’s Gospel we heard the parable of the Good Samaritan: an instruction from Our Lord to go beyond our comfort zones to help others.  Immediately following the parable of the Good Samaritan Saint Luke gives the account of our Lord’s visit to Martha and Mary which we heard today.

It’s not a coincidence that Saint Luke puts these two stories side by side.  On the one hand we are taught in the Good Samaritan Story how disciples of Jesus Christ are to go out into the highways, and go and pick up and care for the wounded and those in need.

On the other hand, what do we learn about discipleship from Mary and Martha?  Martha was busy with all the details of hospitality and Mary was sitting at the feet of Our Lord, listening to his word.  And it was Mary who was praised by the Lord,  He said, “Mary has chosen the better part”.
Saint Luke emphasizing a very important lesson in discipleship; yes, we have to care for those in need, yes we have to lift up the wounded, but we cannot lose sight of the one most necessary thing, we must remain grounded by sitting at the feet of Christ—nurturing that close, personal, intimate relationship with Him through prayer, meditation, and contemplation.

I’m reminded of a story from the Missionary Sisters of Charity, the order of sisters founded by St. Mother Theresa of Calcutta.  I got to work with the Missionary Sisters in Rome at a homeless shelter every week for about 5 months, and also at an orphanage in Madagascar.  One of the charisms of the Missionary Sisters of Charity is to take care of the poorest of the poor.  They literally lift starving people out of the gutter and give them food and shelter.  Every day, the Missionary Sisters of Charity make a holy hour, they pray for an hour every day, usually around 6am, in front of the blessed Sacrament.

One day, a young novice goes to Mother Theresa, and says how she thinks the holy hour is a waste of time; there are people starving to death on the streets while the sisters are in the chapel praying.  “Sister, you seem very troubled” Mother said.  “I am, Mother, this holy hour is a waste of time.”  “Because you are so troubled,” said mother Theresa to the young novice, “you need two hours.”
St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church, would remarked similarly, “"Everyone of us needs half an hour of prayer each day, except when we are busy—then we need an hour."

Francis de Sales and Mother Theresa would likely agree that it is so easy to become burnt out and disconnected from God without the daily prayer that sustains us.

Martha was no doubt doing good work in the Gospel today. But the Lord corrects her—reorients her. Why? For one, she comes into the room complaining. Never a good way to enter a room and begin a conversation. Martha complains: Lord, don’t you care that my sister isn’t helping me? Jesus, don’t you care about the same things I care about? Already, we detect, a misalignment of Martha’s will and Jesus’ will. And this misalignment has brought her unhappiness and resentment. She then seeks to force her will upon Jesus and upon her sister: “tell her to help me.”

 Had Martha spent quality time with the Lord, would she be making this complaint and this demand? I think not. If we aren’t praying, “Thy will be done” we are likely seeking that “my will be done”. And this will always bring exhaustion and unhappiness.

Thinking that OUR earthly priorities, our earthly pursuits, are more important than spending time with Jesus is among the greatest mistakes we can make in the Christian life. It makes an idol of our work. Martha is preoccupied with the earthly and missing out on the heavenly.  Martha has her priorities backwards. As so many of us do. Rather. The Lord calls us to holy work, but holy work flows from the living relationship with Christ.

And we might want to defend Martha here, “someone had to do the work. Someone had to serve the meal.” No. That is not the point of the story. Seek first the kingdom of God. Mary has chosen the better part because she has first looked upon Jesus Christ with eyes of faith and a heart of love. She has taken the time to meditate upon the meaning of his presence and to contemplate his face.
Pope Benedict XVI took up this lesson in his first encyclical titled, Deus Caritas Est, God is love.  He teaches that no Christian can be exempt from practicing charity; care for those in need is part of our Christian identity.  But, what makes Christian service different from mere secular service agencies, is that our love of neighbor flows from our love of God.  We prioritize the nurturing of that Holy Relationship with God.

Pope Benedict writes: “It is time to reaffirm the importance of prayer in the face of the activism and the growing secularism of many Christians engaged in charitable work. Clearly, the Christian who prays does not claim to be able to change God's plans or correct what he has foreseen. Rather, he seeks an encounter with the Father of Jesus Christ, asking God to be present with the consolation of the Spirit to him and his work. A personal relationship with God and an abandonment to his will can prevent man from being demeaned and save him from falling prey to the teaching of fanaticism and terrorism.”

Ok. Activism, Fanaticism and terrorism being the result of not praying, this sounds extreme. But who of us are immune from becoming activists for non-essentials, fanatical about our own plans, and terrible in imposing those plans on others. Prayer, meditation upon the word of God, studying the example of the saints, attending the school of the saints, as we say, will help us remain rooted in what matters most.

Ah but when, we do answer the call to prayer. We become charged and changed by God’s presence. His peace calms us, his joy radiates from us, his wisdom guides us, and his love burns within us. Our work can then become transformed into an encounter with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Every day we are faced with the choice to be more like Martha or more like Mary— Busy about all of our worldly pursuits, or drawn deeper into the life and love of God.  Let us renew our commitment today to daily prayer, to seeking the one thing that really matters, Jesus Christ Our Lord, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

5th Sunday of Easter 2019 - Love Anyway!

During the seven weeks of the Easter Season, the Church continues to reflect on those lessons taught by Jesus in his passion and resurrection. Just as plants need to spend time gradually absorbing the energy of the sun for their growth, our souls need to spend time basking in the light of Christ's revelation, so that we can absorb the grace God wants to give us.

Today especially, we are reminded of the New Commandment issued by the Lord the night before he died. Our Gospel reading brings us back to that Last Supper, when Jesus gathered with his closest companions and opened his heart to them. His heart overflowed with love that night, as he washed their feet and instituted the Sacrament of His Body and Blood. Love motivated all that he said and did. And he taught that Love was to be the distinguishing mark of the Christian. "This is how all will know that you are my disciples," he said, "if you have love for one another."

Being a Christian is much more than being a member of a social club. Being a Christian means having an urgent, important mission in life. It means being another Christ in the world—loving God and loving others as he does.

Jesus gave his very life in order to fulfill his Father's will and win salvation for sinners. And so, each one of us is called to reproduce in the unique circumstances of our lives that exact same pattern: discovering and fulfilling God's will, and striving to help as many people as possible know, love, and follow Christ.

Is your life marked by love? Love for the Holy Trinity. Love for the Blessed Mother and the Saints? Love for the Truth of the Gospel? Love for your fellow parishioners? Love for Christians on the other side of the world? Love for those who grate you the wrong way?

Love is to be clearly manifested in our lives. Love displayed in your life and mine is how God wishes to draw non-believers to Christ. Love that is patient, kind, selfless, and pure will draw others to God who is the source of Love. If our life is filled not with love but sourness, bitterness, disobedience toward the law of Christ, hypocrisy, irreverence towards the Church, why would people even consider Christianity? 

Certainly, one of the biggest obstacles to the spread of the Catholic faith, is the counter-witness given by Catholics fail to love, by clergy and laity—of course—who proclaim Christ as Lord, and yet, disregard his teaching—his example—his command to love.

India's great leader for independence, Mahatma Gandhi, famously commented on this phenomenon. He had been educated in western universities, where he was exposed to the beautiful teachings of Jesus. But he was also exposed to the hypocrisy of people who called themselves Christ's followers, but made little effort to follow Christ's teachings.  Reflecting on his experience, he said: "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”  Gandhi could have been converted, if one more Catholic took their faith more seriously: Catholics who put aside their racism, or their economic self-interest, and stood with Gandhi for human rights, fasting with him, praying with him.

To be fair, I also think Gandhi was a bit hypocritical. One of Gandhi’s famous sayings sums up his own mission for peace, he said, “be the Change you wish to see in the world.”  It’s a great idea. Be the change. You want to see change in the world, in the church, in your family. Be the change. But, if Gandhi was scandalized by the failure of Christians to live up to commands of Christ, he could have taken up the invitation himself, and been the change he wished to see in the Church.  If you don’t think Christians are trying hard enough, then you try it, be the Christian we are called to be.

It reminds me of another quote I saw on the internet recently. Saying I don’t go to Church because of the hypocrites I find there, is like saying I don’t go to the gym because of the out of shape people.”  We come to Church precisely because we are not the Christians we should be, we are sinners who need a savior. Our souls are out of shape, we are overly attached to earthly passions, we like Peter are deathly afraid of the cross, so we come here, week after week, in order to learn from Our Lord’s example, that we might have the courage to love as our Lord taught.

St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta gave a wonderful lesson on love, when she said:
"People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway."
Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People who really want help may attack you if you help them. Help them anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt. Give the world your best anyway.
Why?  Because in the final analysis, all of this is between you and God…It was never between you and them anyway."

Whatever excuses we find not to be filled with the love of Christ. Let us love, anyway.
Speaking of Charity. We have a wonderful opportunity to practice selfless Christ-like Love this weekend in our Catholic Charities Follow-Up In-Pew Appeal.

During Last Year’s May Follow-Up weekend, over $750k was raised to expand treatment for people with addiction. Catholic Charities was able to use those funds to expand treatment services throughout all 8 counties of the diocese, and recently opened a new treatment facility in Akron.

This weekend, the Follow-up In-Pew Appeal will focus on raising funds for those with developmental, physical, and mental disabilities at Camp Christopher. Camp Christopher has served youth and adults with disabilities for over 95 years, and donations raised through this weekend’s Follow-Up Appeal will be invested in Camp Christopher’s Disability Camps for camperships, cabin renovations for ADA compliance, and continue those programs and service for campers with special needs which make such an impact in their lives.

Camp Christopher has been a longstanding place of goodwill in our diocese. And our donations this weekend ensure that we can continue this wonderful service for those with disabilities, while easing the financial burdens of their families. Sharing our own financial blessings answers the Gospel call to love our neighbor. We may never meet the people who benefit from our charity, but let us love then anyway.

Through the generosity of an anonymous donor, all new, increased or additional gifts this weekend will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $100k. So please, be generous.

We will now take a few moments to fill out the envelopes already in the pews. The envelopes can be placed in the offertory baskets. On behalf of Bishop Perez and those who are assisted by our donations, thank you for your generosity.

May our giving of our time, talent, and treasure deepen our love of God and neighbor for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

22nd Week in OT 2018 - Thursday - Foolishness and Wisdom

The Old Testament takes up, quite often, the error of foolishness or folly.

 “Folly”, says the book of Proverbs, “brings joy to one who has no sense, but whoever has understanding keeps a straight course.” The fool says in his heart “there is no God”, he acts as if God didn’t exist, as if God did not reveal how we are to live. This sort of foolishness is an epidemic in our modern day. The writer of Ecclesiastes acknowledges, “I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.” Foolishness is often associated with sin and sinfulness. Psalm 38 speaks of the wound that festers because of our sinful folly. Folly is opposed to wisdom, self-discipline, righteousness, truth, discernment and prudence.

So, St. Paul’s words to the Corinthians this morning, are quite strange, for he claims that we, Christians, are to become fools. He quickly clarifies though, we are to be foolish, not in the ways of God, but in the ways of the world. The way of the world is to seek pleasure and riches, indulge in any form of immorality, to ignore the calls of the poor, to simply eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we shall die. The way, the true way of Jesus Christ, calls us to be foolish of these attitudes, to “cast out into deep waters” as the Lord encourages us in the Gospel, to seek first the kingdom of God.

St. Theresa of Calcutta, whose feast we celebrated, just yesterday, echoed the sentiments of St. Paul, when she spoke about the life of poverty and service that she and her missionary sisters engage in. She said, “To the world, we are wasting precious life and burying our talents…We have nothing to live on, yet we live splendidly; nothing to walk on, yet we walk fearlessly; nothing to lean on, but yet we lean on God confidently; for w are his own and he is our provident Father.”

How can we grow in the wisdom of God, which recognizes the error of the world and the truth of the Gospel? An old proverb states that the only way to knowledge is to confess our ignorance, the only way to become wise is to confess our foolishness. This resonates with the Christian attitude that we must be humble enough to confess that we’ve been all too foolish in the ways of God, we are to humble ourselves so that we may be taught by God.

We do well to make a regular thorough examination of our lives in light of the entire Word of God. We do well to compare ourselves and our pursuits to the saints and their pursuits. Saints who spent their time in service, study, preaching, penance, and prayer show the folly of our self-centered pursuits. We do well to ask our Guardian Angels to make us aware of our foolish attitudes and behaviors, after all, they have to put up with our foolishness more than anybody.

Our commitment to Christ, our sacrifices for Him and His Gospel, our carrying of the cross is foolishness in the eyes of the world, but His, and His alone, is the way that leads to eternal life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all Christians may seek to grow in the wisdom of God through study, prayer, penance, and charity.
That our young people may be kept safe from the errors and poison of the world, so to grow in the ways of righteousness and truth.
For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, abuse, and terrorism, for the sanctification of the clergy, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.
For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests, deacons and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.
Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord.

May 31 2018 - Feast of the Visitation - Pro-life witness of the Gospels

On the final day of this Marian Month of May, we celebrate the joyful feast of the Visitation, a celebration of life.

For me, today’s Gospel is one of the great Pro-Life passages from scripture. We heard today, John dancing and leaping in the womb of Elizabeth like David joyfully dancing before the Ark of the Covenant when he first encounters his unborn cousin, Jesus, only days old in the womb of Mother Mary.

John is a powerful pro-life model for John recognizes that Jesus was truly human from the moment of his conception. Some might claim that it is “above their paygrade” when human life exists. But Scripture and modern science show that human life begins at conception. And we therefore have a duty to reverence it, to protect it, to rejoice over it.

Mary, too, is a powerful pro-life figure. For even with the great burdens she now faced, she goes in haste, to help the pregnant, elderly, Elizabeth. Mary is a pro-life model for us all, showing us that we even with all the burdens we face, we are all to have a special care for pregnant mothers, especially pregnant mothers in difficult circumstances. We are to devote to them our time, talent, and treasure in helping them nurture and bring-forth life.

Mary would also stay with Elizabeth until the birth her baby, accompanying her through childbirth, and through those difficult days as a first-time mother. Mary reminds us to have a special care for mothers and children throughout pregnancy and afterwards as well.

I reflect on the pro-life dimension of this scripture in light of the terribly sad news of Ireland’s vote to overturn its pro-life laws. Only one in three citizens of Ireland voted to protect life. The other two-thirds join the many Americans who see abortion as a solution, as a way of empowering women, as a way to riches and happiness.

But as St. Theresa of Calcutta often taught, “It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you live as you wish… The greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion, which is war against the child. The mother doesn't learn to love, but kills to solve her own problems. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want.”

May the heavenly intercession of St. John, St. Elizabeth, and Holy Mary help restore reverence and care for human life, especially the protection of the unborn. May they help us witness to the Gospel of Life for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
 
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That the leaders and members of the Church my fulfill with joy their calling to proclaim, celebrate, and serve the Gospel of Life.
That God may protect all unborn babies, and keep them safe from the scourge of abortion, and for the safety and welfare of all pregnant mothers, and that all mothers and fathers will know the assistance of the Christian Church in nurturing and raising their children.
For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.
For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.
Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

Homily: Monday - 1st Week of Lent 2017 - Almsgiving and Works of Mercy

Few people have given themselves to the poor and forgotten like Mother Theresa.  Mother Teresa often called the poor “Jesus in disguise.”

Consider her powerful words referencing our Gospel passage today: “In order to help us deserve heaven, Christ set a condition: that at the moment of our death you and I, whoever we might have been and wherever we have lived, Christians and non-Christians alike, every human being who has been created by the loving hand of God in his own image shall stand in his presence and be judged according to what we have been for the poor, what we have done for them…”

Lent is a season of preparation. Just like the season of Advent prepares our minds and hearts for Christmas, the season of Lent prepares our minds and hearts for Easter. But what we do during this Lent also has eternal ramifications. Lent helps us prepare, not just for Easter 2017. Our reading today, reminds us that Lent helps us prepare for judgment, helps us to prepare for meeting the Christ the Judge.

Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are not only important for Lent, but for the entire Christian life; they are probably the most three important activities in the life of the Christian. Everything boils down to these three activities.

And particularly almsgiving. The life of charity, the life of mercy, are fundamental to the Christian way of life. The Catechism even says, “The works of mercy are not optional but are absolutely essential to living the Christian life of holiness and goodness.”

In opening the year of Mercy, Pope Francis echoed this teaching. He said, “It is absolutely essential for the Church and for the credibility of her message that she herself live and testify to mercy. Her language and her gestures must transmit mercy, so as to touch the hearts of all people and inspire them once more to find the road that leads to the Father.”

Let us consider how the Lord is calling us to engage more deeply in Lenten almsgiving, by reflecting once more on the words of the Holy Father: We cannot escape the Lord’s words to us, and they will serve as the criteria upon which we will be judged: whether we have fed the hungry and given drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger and clothed the naked, or spent time with the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-45). Moreover, we will be asked if we have helped others to escape the doubt that causes them to fall into despair and which is often a source of loneliness; if we have helped to overcome the ignorance in which millions of people live, especially children deprived of the necessary means to free them from the bonds of poverty; if we have been close to the lonely and afflicted; if we have forgiven those who have offended us and have rejected all forms of anger and hate that lead to violence; if we have had the kind of patience God shows, who is so patient with us; and if we have commended our brothers and sisters to the Lord in prayer.”

May we respond generously to the call to Lenten almsgiving, to the works of mercy, for the glory of God and salvation of souls

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For the needs of the poor, the hungry, the homeless, those who are sick, unemployed, or suffering from addiction, mental, or physical illness, imprisoned, and those most in need: that the Lord in his goodness will be close to them in their trials.

For mercy for the most vulnerable of our human family, the unborn; that their mothers may choose life and be supported by a culture of life.

For the young people of our Church. May they be strengthened to be witnesses to the Gospel of mercy and work for a future that embodies a genuine culture of mercy.

For those preparing to enter the Church at Easter: that they will be profoundly blessed in their preparation for full initiation into the Body of Christ.  We pray to the Lord.

For the engaged couples attending our parish’s Pre-Cana Day this weekend, that the Lord will increase in them His gifts of love to prepare them rightly and chastely for the sacrament of marriage, and for a strengthening of all marriages. We pray to the Lord.

Homily: 23rd Sunday in OT 2016 - Comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable

One of my favorite quotes from the great G.K. Chesterton is that “Christianity is a faith that comforts the afflicted… And afflicts the comfortable.”

Our faith comforts us, as it helps us know that God offers his mercy to every sinful soul. Every soul that has turned away from goodness, every soul that has given in to temptations of selfishness, lust, every person that has ever lost control and hurt the ones we love. God loves the poor wretched sinner. And that is comforting.

Yet that same faith, stirs us out of our ambivalence and moves the sinner to examine his life, to repent of his sins, and that is not always pleasant—it afflicts the comfortable. Over and over in the Gospels, the Pharisees show great hostility to Jesus because he exposed their hard-hearts—they weren’t as holy as they thought they were. So Christ’s message afflicts the comfortable—the complacent; it challenges us, it humbles us, but by doing so, it calls us to something greater—authentic holiness, the life of grace.

Christianity comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.


A woman who took seriously both aspects of the faith is being canonized this weekend in Rome by Pope Francis. 19 years after her death, Blessed Mother Teresa will become Saint Mother Teresa.

Mother Teresa followed Christ into the slums to serve the poorest of the poor. She established a new religious order, the Missionary Sisters of Charity to live among the poor and to care for the dying and the destitute, orphans and abandoned children, alcoholics, the aged, and the homeless. She brought comfort to the afflicted, reminding the poor and afflicted of their dignity in the eyes of God. She became a living icon of mercy and compassion.

The current Archbishop of Calcutta, India, commenting on her canonization this Sunday said, her canonization is “an occasion for people in all walks of life to do something beautiful for God, as Mother Teresa did.”

During this Holy Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has not only called each and every one of us to focus on the works of mercy, but now he has given us a wonderful example to follow in the life of St. Teresa of Calcutta.

I’ve had the great honor of visiting the Missionary Sisters of Charity on several occasions. When I was studying in Rome, I worked alongside the Sisters at a house for destitute men, where the homeless would come for food, clothing, shelter, medical care. The sisters would literally bathe the smelly grime of the streets off these men.  They’d be fed and bathed and treated with dignity and respect.  The sisters were so edifying as they treated these men as they would treat Jesus himself.
Again, I visited the Sisters when I went with Catholic Relief Services to the African Country of Madagascar, where they ran an orphanage—caring for the homeless and abandoned children.

In every chapel of the Missionary Sisters, whether in Rome, or Madagascar, or Calcutta, is a crucifix with the words of Jesus: “I thirst”, words Jesus spoke from the cross. It is a reminder to all of the sisters that when they bring drink to the thirsty they are giving that drink to Jesus himself.

Again, each of us do well to ask the Holy Spirit very devoutly and seriously how we might be engaged in the works of mercy this year. Who are the naked we are called to clothe, who are the hungry we are called to feed, who are the prisoners we are called to visit? Who are the souls we are to pray for regularly? Who are the ignorant we are to instruct? Who are the sinners we are called to invite back to God? In comforting these people, we extend the reign of God’s mercy, we become instruments of the compassion of God.

Mother Teresa, is best known for bringing comfort to the afflicted, she won a Nobel Peace Prize for her work, and more importantly, she became a saint.

But, Mother was also known for afflicting the comfortable, challenging selfish complacent souls to take the Gospel of Christ more seriously.

One priest tells the story about how he picked up Mother from the airport for a speaking engagement. He was familiar with Mother, so he felt comfortable talking about all of the different ministries he was engaged in: traveling around the country, giving lectures and parish missions, teaching, And all the while Mother is quietly praying her rosary beads. The priest continued to elaborate on all of his endeavors and said, with all of this going on, I’m even too busy to pray. And Mother, cuts off the priest, and says, “Father, you must never be too busy to pray”. If you are too busy to pray, you are too busy!

A sister once complained to Mother Teresa about all the time they were spending in the chapel; for each day, Mother Theresa required her sister to spend an hour in Eucharistic adoration before going out into the streets. “We have all this work to do, there are people who are starving and dying while we kneel here in the chapel. An hour of prayer is a waste of time,” the sister insisted. To which Mother replied, “because you believe this sister, you need two hours.”

Mother challenges us to never allow the busy-ness of life to keep us from the most important relationship with Christ, we must never allow all the noise of the world to keep us from prayer. “The fruit of Silence is prayer. The fruit of Prayer is faith. The fruit of Faith is love. The fruit of Love is service. The fruit of Service is peace” she said. If you want peace, you need prayer.

In 1994, Mother Teresa was invited to speak at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC. There, in front of republicans and democrats, nominal and practicing Christians, jews, and muslims, she spoke of the poverty of the west, in that we treat people without dignity.

“When I pick up a person from the street, hungry,” she said, “I give him a plate of rice, a piece of bread. But a person who is shut out, who feels unwanted, unloved, terrified, the person who has been thrown out of society." Certainly a challenge to "look to the margins" as Pope Francis would say.

She then spoke of the great sin of abortion… “abortion,” she said, “which often follows from contraception, brings a people to be spiritually poor, and that is the worst poverty and the most difficult to overcome.”

 “It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish” she said. And this attitude justifies abortion goes hand in hand with married couples ignoring Church teaching on the sinfulness of artificial contraception.

Through the use of contraception, husband and wife “destroy the gift of love” she said. Essentially, she is saying that when cannot truly love when we devalue human life and when we devalue chastity. Challenging words for a national prayer breakfast, challenging words, perhaps for some of us, but that doesn’t lessen the truth of the message.

Mother spoke these words of challenge confidently because they are the teaching of the master. We are called to love. And Christian love is not always popular or easy. Love often looks like a cross. It requires self-discipline, going out of our comfort zone to raise up the poor from the gutter, speaking the truth in the face of error.  “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” Challenging words. But we know, deep down, that there is nothing more important than following Christ to the cross.

Through the intercession of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, may we grow in charity, bear our crosses confidently and gracefully, may we know God’s comfort in our affliction, and be stirred out of our complacency for the glory of God and salvation of souls.